Dr Muhammad Yunus, the founder of Grameen Bank in Bangladesh, recently partnered with the Indian Institute of Management- Ahmedabad (IIM-A), a public business school, to pool a INR 50 crore (USD 10.1 million) investment fund for social ventures.
Search Results for: india
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: International Finance Corporation (IFC), ACCION Support Swadhaar in Expanding Microfinance for Women in Urban India
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), the private-investment arm of the World Bank Group, and ACCION International, a private, US-based nonprofit organization, will advise Swadhaar FinServe Private Limited (SFPL), an Indian microfinance institution, on its expansion of financial services for women in urban slums of the following Indian states: Gujarat, Madhya Pradesh, Maharashtra and Rajasthan.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Bank Credit to Microfinance Institutions Shrank 21.9% in First 9 Months of 2011
The amount of credit outstanding from Indian banks to the microfinance industry fell from April to December of 2011.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Reserve Bank of India to Issue Guidelines For Interoperability Among Business Correspondents “Shortly”
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI) is working to enable interoperability among business correspondents (BCs) to promote financial inclusion in rural areas [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Unitus Labs Launches Unitus Seed Fund, to Invest in Small Anti-Poverty Enterprises in India
Unitus Labs, a US-based nonprofit that aims to reduce poverty via economic empowerment, has recently launched the Unitus Seed Fund, a venture fund that will invest in start-up enterprises in India.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Finance Ministry Clears Draft Microfinance Bill, Considers Engaging Post Office Banks to Promote Financial Inclusion
India’s finance ministry reportedly has cleared the draft of a microfinance bill following its public circulation for comments in July 2011 [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Microfinance Institution Ujjivan Financial Services Raises $25m in Equity from FMO, Wolfensohn, LOK, IFIF, Sequoia, Unitus, Elevar
Indian microfinance institution (MFI) Ujjivan Financial Services has raised INR 127.9 crore (USD 25 million) in its fifth round of equity financing.
MICROFINANCE PUBLICATION ROUND-UP: Willingness to Pay for Business Correspondents in India, Health Microinsurance Third Party Payment Mechanisms, Accenture Development Partners Report on Microinsurance
“The Answer is ‘Yes’—Cost and Willingness to Pay in India;” by Akhand Tiwari, Akhilesh Singh, Ann-Byrd Platt, Graham A N Wright, Minakshi Ramji and Sachin Bansal; published by MicroSave; 2011; 16 pages; available at http://ami.microsave.org/sites/default/files/research_papers/CWP_Summary…
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microcredit Summit Campaign, Freedom from Hunger Partner on Effort to Bring Health Services to 3.7m, Program to be Piloted in India
The Microcredit Summit Campaign, a US-based advocacy organization, has partnered with Freedom from Hunger, a US-based development NGO, to launch a project intended to provide health insurance to approximately 3.7 million people worldwide.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Health Insurer Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP) Boosts Client Retention With Discounted Outpatient Services, Also to Launch Cashless Health Delivery With Swasth India
Swayam Shikshan Prayog (SSP), an education and development organization based in Mumbai, India, has found that offering discounted outpatient services to health insurance clients is linked with customer retention.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Microfinance Institutions in Andhra Pradesh Request Extension to Meet New Capital Adequacy Ratios Imposed by Reserve Bank of India
Microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the Indian State of Andhra Pradesh (AP) reportedly have requested that the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) extend the deadline for MFIs to meet its new capital adequacy ratio (CAR) requirements.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: State Bank of India to Grow Microfinance Portfolio by 50%, Microfinance Institutions Network Promotes Wholesale Lending to Sector
The State Bank of India (SBI) reportedly plans to grow its microfinance portfolio by 50 percent during the fourth quarter of the fiscal year.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Michael and Susan Dell Foundation Takes Equity Stake in India’s BASIX Sub-K Mobile Payments Platform
The Michael and Susan Dell Foundation, a US-based nonprofit, has taken an equity stake in BASIX Sub-K iTransactions Limited, the mobile payments unit of BASIX Group, an Indian entity providing services to poor people including microfinance, health insurance and agricultural and business development services [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Acumen Fund Loans $1m to Indian Microfinance Institution Gramalaya Urban and Rural Development Initiatives and Network (GUARDIAN)
Acumen Fund, a US-based nonprofit fund that invests in entrepreneurial approaches to reduce poverty, has made a loan amounting to USD 1 million to Gramalaya Urban and Rural Development Initiatives and Network (GUARDIAN), an Indian microfinance institution (MFI) that focuses on lending to increase access to clean water and sanitation facilities [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: IFC Advising FINO in Effort to Extend Financial Services to 100m Indians Over 3 Years
The International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group, has agreed to provide advisory support to Indian for-profit technology and services provider Financial Information Networks and Operation (FINO) in its goal to bring financial products such as microinsurance, remittance and deposit services to 100 million clients in India over the next three years.
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Preferring Sector-Wide Solution, Reserve Bank of India Refuses to Classify Restructured Loans as Performing Assets for Microfinance Institutions BASIX, Sharada’s Women’s Association for Weaker Section (SWAWS)
The Reserve Bank of India (RBI), India’s central banking authority, has refused to give a special exemption to commercial banks, that include HDFC Bank, Corporation Bank and Axis Bank, to restructure loans outstanding to microfinance providers BASIX Group and Sharada’s Women’s Association for Weaker Section (SWAWS) Credit Corporation India Private Limited under a classification other than as non-performing assets [1] [2].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Indian Microfinance Institutions Allowed to Raise $10m Each in External Commercial Borrowings
Reserve Bank of India (RBI) Deputy Governor Mr H R Khan has announced that Indian microfinance institutions (MFIs) will now be allowed to execute external commercial borrowings (ECB)–those that are raised from outside India–of up to USD 10 million per financial year, twice as much as was previously allowed [1]. Such funds must be “utilised for lending to self-help groups or for micro-credit or for bonafide micro finance activity including capacity building.” [2] The change is intended to address liquidity issues in the industry [1].
MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: MicroSave Survey: Reliance on Loan Sharks High, Microfinance Repayment Rates Low in Andhra Pradesh, India
The downturn in the microfinance industry in the Indian state of Andhra Pradesh has resulted in brisk business for traditional moneylenders according to a study entitled “What are Clients doing Post the Andhra Pradesh MFI Crisis?” from MicroSave, a microfinance advisory firm with offices in India, Indonesia, the Philippines and Uganda.